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| NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species |
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Common Name: tautog
Taxonomy: available through 
Identification: Manooch (1984); Robins and Ray (1986); Murdy et al. (1997).
Size: 91 cm, 10 kg.
Native Range: Marine; tautog are native to the Atlantic coast from Nova
Scotia to South Carolina (Robins et al. 1986).
Nonindigenous Occurrences: Two attempts have been made to stock these fish on the west coast. The first was made in 1873, when Livingston Stone made his famous ill-fated journey across the continent with east coast fishes in an aquarium railroad car. The entire shipment was lost in the Elkhorn River near Omaha, Nebraska, when a railroad bridge collapsed (Smith 1896). The tautogs did not survive. The second attempt was a year later. This time he made it to California. The tautogs were stocked in San Francisco Bay near Oakland (Smith 1896) but apparently did not take hold. A second attempt was made in 1897 when a few hundred more fish were stocked, again without success (Shebley 1917).
Means of Introduction: Accidental in Nebraska, intentionally stocked in California.
Status: Extirpated in both Nebraska and California.
Impact of Introduction: Unknown.
Remarks: DeKay (1842) wrote of stockings of this species in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. Reportedly the fish were taken from Rhode Island. Both DeKay (1842) and Goode (1884) stated that this was an attempt to expand the species' range southward, implying they did not already occur there. However, Jordan and Gilbert (1882) reported a specimen "Hiatula onitis" which was actually a tautog with a missing anal fin. The specimen was collected from Charleston, South Carolina, and sent to Linnaeus in the 1700s. Linnaeus named the fish Labrus hiatula in his work Systema Naturae in 1788. Therefore, the species must have been native to the Charleston area and is not considered introduced outside the native range in this location.
Other Resources:
FishBase Fact Sheet
Author: Pam Fuller
Revision Date: 12/5/2003 Citation for this information:
Pam Fuller. 2009. Tautoga onitis. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL.
<http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=754> Revision Date: 12/5/2003
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